Kunavore for Toulouse

Nasoni Kunavore has signed up for a 2 year contract with Toulouse

 Rugby Club in France. The 19 year old is the younger brother of Maleli Kunavore who passed away earlier this year. He was a member of the Fiji under 20 team to the recent Junior World Cup.

The lad from Nadroga will be attached to the Touluse Rugby Academy and joins other successful Fijians plying their trade in France. The Nadroga Rugby Union has been successful in establishing a relationship with France Clubs to the benefit of their players.

Taniela Koroi Captains Tawa to Jubilee maiden

MY 

Tawa RFC has won it's first Jubilee cup beating the Oriental Rongotai Club in the final of the Wellington Rugby Club competition last weekend.

Tawa is captained by Taniela Koroi and features three Fijians. Taniela remembers joining the club and how the grounds were empty on game days. In stark contrast  the finals had a good crowd of local supporters cheering on to stop a spirited Ories effort.

The Fijian prop also featured for the Wellington XV  against Manawatu and has been called up for Lions duties against the All Blacks this weekend. The ITM Lions first choice front row are currently recovering from Super XV injuries and so Taniela my feature in their first ITM game against Counties Manukau on August 15.

We wish him all the best this season.

Ratu Naulia Dawai makes it into Southland Stags

3 years ago Naulia Dawai moved to New Zealand not knowing where the town he was going to would be. Jekope Maiono from Rugby-Career.com had recruited him to play in Southland rugby competition for Midlands. The deep South as they call it is often covered in snow and that's what he found himself in.

Despite the hardship Dawai has worked hard in the three years. Being away from his family is the hardest and he flies back to them in the off season. In 2012 he returned early to play for Southland in the Sevens competition and impressed Southland Coach David Henderson. But Henderson wanted Dawai to move from hooker to flanker after seeing him at the New Zealand Sevens in Queenstown.

"After the sevens, we thought he was a guy with special talents, that could run with the ball," Henderson said. "He seemed to have something different. He could step into contact and through contact, he's quite powerful. We encouraged him to go into loose forward and he's done enough to warrant selection, so we are pretty happy with where he's at, but he's still got a long way to go."

This year he was finally selected to play for the Stags alongside other Fijian mates Nemia Kenatale and Tuapati Talemaitoga.

"I've learnt a lot, just how to train and what to eat. Focussing on skills like my passing and tackling technique, running lines. I've learnt heaps." 

Congratulations Naulia Dawai.

Can Fiji win the PNC?

After winning their match against USA with a bonus point, Fiji is 1 point behind Canada at 12 in the Pacific Nations Cup table. But has Fiji got a chance of a winning the PNC? Technically the answer is yes but the chances are slim. Fiji has to beat Tonga and Canada lose their game against Japan on the  for this to happen.

But Canada has been playing so well and Japan so poorly that it's a foregone conclusion that Canada will win the PNC. In my earlier blog I had suggested that winning the PNC puts Fiji at a stronger negotiating position for a sponsorhip deal. We may have just ruined our chances in the PNC and we must now rely on winning Sevens Rugby World Cup. Winning would definitely strengthen our negotiating position from a sponsorship perspective.

Well it appears that I have written off Fiji too early. Japan has just beaten Canada by      16 - 13 which means that Fiji still has a chance of winning the PNC if they beat Tonga on the 23rd.

On the other hand the FRU has just this week signed a deal with the United Arab Emirates Rugby Union to help their Sevens Team with their development. We hope that this comes with great financial gain and judging from FRU Chairman Filimoni Waqabaca's presence at the signing this is very likely. Could this mean that the Emirates Airlines is knocking at the FRU door for sponsorship?

As we move forward I would like to wish our sevens team all the best for this years Sevens World Cup.

Kuridrani scores for historic defeat of British Lions

The British Lions had an easy run so far with the Super 15 Provincial team until they faced the Brumbies. The ACT have not beaten the Lions for 42 years.

Featuring Fijian rugby players Henry Speight and Tevita Kuridrani the Brumbies meant business right from the opening whistle. Tevita Kuridrani's try in the 5th minute was the only try and he still had a lot of work to do from 30 meters out.

The 22 year old joined the Brumbies squad prior to the 2012 Super Rugby season and made his debut against the Reds in Brisbane. He also sevens for Australia and represented Australia under 20 in the 2011 IRB Junior World Championship. Here's the a video of the try and highlights of the game.

Nakaitaci scores 2 tries on debut for France

Fiji-born winger Noa Nakaitaci scored two tries within two minutes in the second half as France overran the Blues Super Rugby team 38-15 on Tuesday in a tour match which bridged their first and second tests against New Zealand. Right winger Nakaitaci, who plays for Clermont Auvergne in the Top 14, touched down in the 50th and 52nd minutes to allow France to run away with the match against the Auckland-based Blues after leading 12-3 at halftime.

This is the video of the two tries

Digicel sponsorship to be replaced?

Digicel sponsorship for the Fiji Rugby Union expires at the end of this year. With 6 months to go, negotiations for a major sponsor will already be under way. There is no better timing than this to be negotiating a sponsor.

Winning the IRB sevens this year would have put the FRU in a stronger negotiating position. But there is still time as the PNC finishes 23rd of June and the Sevens World Cup is on 28th to 30th June. To attract an excellent sponsor we need to win these two tournaments - full stop. The Junior World Cup is underway and a semifinal achievement would be a bonus.

An improved monetary sponsor is critical as I would like to see our sevens players get contracts for next years IRB sevens series. No rotations. No trialling players. Just get a core group of players, contracted for 2 years and let them play the tournaments. We can introduce 1 or 2 new players but a core group should be maintained. Consistency, combination and a body accustomed to sevens rugby physiology is necessary.

New Zealand has employed this strategy and their results are outstanding. Even though the All Blacks won as many tournaments (two) as Fiji  in 2012/2013 IRB sevens season, they appeared in 7 out of 9 finals.

The IRB sevens series is the key in the short term to Fiji's rugby success. Our Flying Fijians XV rugby team is not playing enough tier one tests to generate enough interest on a major sponsorship deal. On the hand the Fiji Sevens team plays over 60 games a year in 9 countries. We also need a sponsor that is worldwide and can utilise the multinational appearance of our Sevens team. Vodafone comes to mind.

The New Zealand Rugby Union in recognising this potential extended the All Blacks name to their sevens team. This was done during the negotiations phase for a new sponsor in the middle of 2012. The resulting AIG sponsorship deal in dollar value is a secret but the sevens team performance in the last decade was obviously a boost to their negotiation.

NZRU CEO Steve Tew said:

"From Las Vegas to Dubai, the Sevens team plays in more places, more often than the All Blacks. The next season extends from October to May and will be longer in coming years as more tournaments are added. As well, the Olympics provides a fantastic new opportunity on the biggest sporting stage in the world.

Imagine the All Blacks silver fern proudly on the chests of our Sevens team at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics in 2016. There is no greater place to showcase to the world the All Blacks.

Sevens is critical to Fiji in the short term. We need to win the 2013/14 IRB sevens series. Does this mean 15's is not important? Not it is, but it will take a while for us to move up the ranking and be at where Samoa is. While we are working our way up the rankings in 15's, the Sevens code is where we can compete and retain our sponsors.

The Flying Fijians have started well and their ranking has improved from 14 to 13 and we hope that they stay on track to winning the PNC. Things will become clearer at the end of June. What an exciting month for Fiji Rugby this is.